vitamin D supplement?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i had been under the impression that breastmilk is all my baby needs but then i was just reading in Baby411 this morning how babies who are exclusively breastfed should be getting a Vitamin D supplement from 2 months on. well DS is 3 months old and i've never given him anything but breastmilk..no supplements. oops. so should i just start supplementing now? i am still taking vitamins myself (same kind i took while prego, flintstones complete) that has Vitamin D in it, but i guess that is not enough, or that it doesn't pass into the breastmilk?

anyway, just wondering how important this supplement is..at our 2 month appt our ped never mentioned needing a supplement, so not sure if he really needs it. i guess i'm a bit concerned though since few months ago DH was diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency and was prescribed a supplement.. so i'm wondering if DS might be more prone to a deficiency for this reason...

if this has been discussed before, i apologize. i tried doing a search here but since it would only search on "vitamin" ("d" too short of a word) and i got a bunch of unrelated results.

[goldenpig]

Our pediatrician recommended supplementing with vitamin D. A lot of babies/kids don't get enough vitamin D. The recommended amount is 400 IU/day. I use Carlson's Baby D drops and it's just one drop a day--no taste so it's well tolerated. You can just put the drop on your nipple before breastfeeding.
http://www.amazon.com/Carlson-Labora.../dp/B001ECXIGQ
My 2 year old gets the vitamin D in her Lil Critter Multivitamin gummy. They also make an adult Carlson's vit D with 2000 IU/day.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thx for the response! and putting a drop on the nipple-- that's genius idea, i didn't think of that! that would work for me since my DS only gets a bottle of expressed bm every now and then, and he moves around too much to be able to put drops directly into his mouth (putting saline drops in his nose was already a challenge!).

and yeah, i see that 400 IUs is the new recommendation (my baby411 said 200 IUs, but i think it is an older edition). thanks for the rec of baby drops.

[catpagmo]

I never supplemented with either DD (when she was a baby) or DS. My ped said that they were/are probably getting some from the sun. We live were it's very sunny, so I feel fine with that.

ETA: DD takes a multivitamin, but I'm not giving DS anything yet. Might start soon, though. Probably PolyViSol or something similar.

[egoldber]

I didn't but I wish I had. With all the new info coming out about how most people are at least deficient and how insufficient Vitamin D being linked to so many disorders, I woudl definitely supplement.

I now take one and both my kids take one.

[DrSally]

I give DD trivisol, DS gets lil critters (both have 400 IU D3), and I take 2000 IU D3 (Costco). I could prob take more b/c I'm nursing. I'm going to request a level check (never had one) at my next OB appt.

[the2bobs]

There are articles about this online, I recently did a search b/c one of those doctor-type programs was saying we should be taking supplements well in excess of the recommended 400 IUs. I read in several articles that adults should take 3000 IUs, kids 2000, and infants 1000. All but my infant are getting it and I bought some drops but haven't really started using them, he does get a multivitamin (Schiff Children's Liquid Multivitamin as recommended by the nutritionist--doesn't stain like the Polyvisol either).
Be careful with how much iron your kids are getting---DS1 was getting a lot btwn his formula & Polyvisol with iron and when he went for his 1st dental checkup she noticed stains on his teeth from all that iron.

[Katigre]

Here's the thing - this is not a problem with breastmilk. Formula-fed infants aren't getting enough Vit D, children drinking three cups of milk a day aren't getting enough Vit D, and adults arne't getting enough vitamin D.

That's because we're not designed to get adequate Vit D through food - so breastmilk isn't 'deficient' in it because it's not designed to transmit it in large quantities (it a bit like saying 'breastmilk is deficient in oxygen - there's not enough in there for a baby to breathe'). If the mother is getting adequate Vit D then there should be a minimum amount in breastmilk, but the vast majority of mothers don't. We're supposed to manufacture Vit D through exposure to sunlight, and modern lifestyles (most of our time indoors and use of sunscreen) means that people don't get enough of it anymore, which has quite negative health effects as Vit D is essential for a healthy immune system and strong bones, among other things.

So here is what I do:

I supplement my whole family. For babies under 6 months old (or not eating solid foods) I take higher supplements myself (4,000-6,000IU/day) which transmits enough through breastmilk to be the equivalent of 400IU/day (Study here). Once they're on solid foods, I give Carlson's Baby D supplement because it doesn not have any additional filler ingredients or vitamins. DS gets Solaray Sunny-D gummies or Animal Parade Vit D3 chewables - in winter he gets 1000iu/day and in summer (when he's outside more often) 500iu/day. DH and I both take 2000IU/day using Carlson Solar D Gems.

Taking D3 is important - that is the most easily bioavailable form of it.

I also don't always use sunscreen because I think humans are meant to be exposed to some amount of sunlight on a regular basis, there's a reason it feels so good to be in the sun. We use hats, we avoid peak sun strength hours, we go in and out of the shade, and if we're going to be swimming or otherwise exposed to sun for a long period of time in less clothing than normal, we use sunscreen.

I like a lot of what this article says on the topic of sun protection (what she's referring to with the 'sunscreen not working' is that up until the past decade, sunscreen did not block the most harmful rays - most of it does now with mixed success rates, and finding 'safe' sunscreen without harmful chemicals is very expensive).

[brittone2]

So here is what I do:

I supplement my whole family. For babies under 6 months old (or not eating solid foods) I take higher supplements myself (4,000-6,000IU/day) which transmits enough through breastmilk to be the equivalent of 400IU/day (Study here). Once they're on solid foods, I give Carlson's Baby D supplement because it doesn not have any additional filler ingredients or vitamins. DS gets Solaray Sunny-D gummies or Animal Parade Vit D3 chewables - in winter he gets 1000iu/day and in summer (when he's outside more often) 500iu/day. DH and I both take 2000IU/day using Carlson Solar D Gems.

This is what i'm doing this time. I didn't do D3 with my other kids, but found out in early pregnancy my own levels were low (not super low but not even in the bottom of the normal range, which is thought to probably be too low anyway...). I live in NC, was coming off summertime, do not use sunscreen day to day, AND was taking 2000iu of D3 a day for over a year at that point. I now take 6000iu a day. I've read that taking 5000iu or more as a nursing mom probably gets levels to the point of it passing in breastmilk. I don't like messing w/ a "virgin gut" and will wait to give d3 to my newborn until he's on solids.

My other kids take between 400 and 1000iu per day of the Rainbow Light sunny vites.